arXiv subjects

M. Zamyatina

Publications and source records attributed to M. Zamyatina.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Transport and Thermochemical Kinetics of Alkali Species in Hot Jupiter Atmospheres: Implications for Magnetic Models

Interactions between the planetary magnetic field of a hot Jupiter and the winds within its atmosphere are moderated by the electron and ion abundances. For a solar metallicity atmosphere at pressures between 10 and $10^{-4}$ bar, the primary sources for these charged species are expected to be the potassium and sodium atoms, and models of magnetic effects in hot Jupiter atmospheres have typically assumed that charged species exist within the atmosphere in their equilibrium abundances. In this work, we investigate the thermochemical kinetics of alkali species within a hot Jupiter atmosphere, thus allowing for the thermal ionisation fraction to depart from equilibrium, and demonstrate that quenching of ions occurs between 1 and 10 mbar. This increase in ionisation fraction on the nightside and at mid-latitudes results in stronger magnetic interaction, here modelled using the magnetic drag approximation, further slowing the jet and altering the global circulation. We additionally show that while quenching occurs, large magnetic resistivities resulting from low electron abundances continue to exist on the nightside between 10 and 100 mbar, in tension with magnetohydrodynamic models that assume horizontally uniform magnetic resistivities to simplify the explicit integration of the induction equation. At lower pressures ($\sim$ 0.1 mbar) where the electrons have become horizontally homogenised, the magnetic Reynolds number approaches or exceeds unity, signalling the breakdown of the magnetic drag approximation. We thus stress that chemical kinetics represents a dynamically important component of modelling hot Jupiter atmospheres while at the same time further complicating the treatment of magnetic effects.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

Benchmarking Two Chemical Networks used in General Circulation Models of Hot Jupiters

Chemical kinetics is becoming an increasingly vital component of hot Jupiter general circulation models (GCMs). Here we simulate the hot Jupiter WASP-96b using two chemical networks, a reduced chemical network frequently used in the GCM literature (which we refer to as V19) and a more recent effective network making use of tables of net reactions (MiniCHEM), coupled to the same GCM in order to provide a robust benchmark. We find a numerical escape criterion used by the Unified Model chemical kinetics solver to stop integration for the duration of the chemical timestep, independent of the chemical network, results in artificial quenching, overestimating of HCN, CH$_4$, and NH$_3$ abundances by factors of 1.5 to 3. With this criterion disabled, agreement between the two networks is improved, except for HCN and NH$_3$, where different reaction rates and included species results in lower abundances in the V19 network. While many rates differ between the networks, the lower quenched NH$_3$ abundances in the V19 simulations are, in particular, due to the choice of NH$_2$ + NH$_3$ $\rightarrow$ N$_2$H$_3$ + H$_2$ reaction rate, which is poorly constrained in the literature. This reaction also impacts the quenching of HCN, which is additionally affected by the lack of CH$_2$NH$_2$ in the V19 network. While there are reasons to favour the MiniCHEM HCN and NH$_3$ abundances, ultimately, improved experimental and theoretical determination of reaction rates are needed to address the uncertainties and better characterize the quenching behaviour.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2024

Longitudinal Filtering, Sponge Layers, and Equatorial Jet Formation in a General Circulation Model of Gaseous Exoplanets

General circulation models are a useful tool in understanding the three dimensional structure of hot Jupiter and sub-Neptune atmospheres; however, understanding the validity of the results from these simulations requires an understanding the artificial dissipation required for numerical stability. In this paper, we investigate the impact of the longitudinal filter and vertical ``sponge'' used in the Met Office's {\sc Unified Model} when simulating gaseous exoplanets. We demonstrate that excessive dissipation can result in counter-rotating jets and a catastrophic failure to conserve angular momentum. Once the dissipation is reduced to a level where a super-rotating jet forms, however, the jet and thermal structure are relatively insensitive to the dissipation, except in the nightside gyres where temperatures can vary by $\sim 100\,\mathrm{K}$. We do find, however, that flattening the latitudinal profile of the longitudinal filtering alters the results more than a reduction in the strength of the filtering itself. We also show that even in situations where the temperatures are relatively insensitive to the dissipation, the vertical velocities can still vary with the dissipation, potentially impacting physical processes that depend on the local vertical transport.

astro-ph.EP↗